Celtic Leather Journal

A handsome leather journal, embossed with a Celtic symbol on the cover and wrapped with a leather tie. Choose the Quaternary Knot or the Open Triskelion.

The symbols and what they mean

The triskelion, or triple spiral, is one of the oldest decorative motifs in these islands. Its earliest examples were carved at Irish Neolithic sites including the Newgrange passage tomb, dated to approximately 3200 BC, which makes it older than the pyramids at Giza. What it meant to the people who carved it is unknown, though after Christianity took hold in Ireland the triskele was read as a symbol of the Trinity, and so of eternity. Today it is usually interpreted through the Celtic fondness for grouping ideas in threes: land, sea and sky, or past, present and future.

The quaternary knot belongs to the later knotwork tradition, the interlace that fills the pages of the Book of Kells and the faces of Pictish and Irish standing stones. Knotwork is drawn as one continuous line with no beginning and no end, which is why it is associated with eternity and with bonds that hold. Its four corners are commonly taken to stand for the four seasons, the four elements or the four directions.

Worth saying plainly: these readings are later interpretations. The carvings themselves came with no explanation attached, and that open quality is part of their appeal.

The journal itself

Each one holds around 125 pages of unlined khadda paper, a recycled cotton paper made in Rajasthan by a charity supporting women's development in rural areas. The embossing is done by hand with small individual tools, so no two covers are quite identical, and the depth of the impression varies a little across the range. That is the mark of the hand rather than a flaw.

A good gift for anyone drawn to Celtic history, Scottish and Irish symbols, or simply a notebook that will take some wear. Size: 13.5 x 18.5 cm.